Blog

For God So Loved the World He Sent Nahum

Thanks to Rob Bell's controversial book, Love Wins, the relationship between God's love and God's wrath is once again a hot topic. John Howard Yoder wrote an insightful essay on this topic called "The Wrath of God and the Love of God," but he never published it. It will be included, however, as an appendix to the forthcoming Herald Press collection of Yoder's writings on capital punishment: The End of Sacrifice. This book is in the final editing stages and should hit the press within a few weeks.

Until then, those interested in this topic may want to read a sermon that I preached at GLCC and Delta Community Christian Church and that was recently posted online by the Ekklesia Project. In it I wrestle with the one-sidedly negative tone of the book of Nahum. God appears to have nothing but wrath in store for the Ninevites, the ancient enemies of God's people. Does this not conflict with God's loving patience for Nineveh in the book of Jonah? How does a book like Nahum serve as Scripture for Christians who have learned from Jesus to love our enemies?

To read this sermon, go to the sermonic essays section of walkandword.com or follow this link.